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CONTACT US
Sue Swanson
President
(720) 858-6288

Mike Edwards
 Dir. of Financial Services
(720) 858-6289

Andrea Levine
Senior Account Executive
(720) 858-6287

Mitch Laycock
Account Executive
(720) 858-6297

Jeff Feakes
Account Executive
(720) 858-6285
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Everyone wants financial independence backed by stability and security, and FSG's Financial Planning Team can help you achieve this. Whether it's investment/retirement planning, estate planning, or disability/life insurance, our team provides trusted advice with the goal of protecting and growing your assets. Contact Mike Edwards at (720) 858-6289 to learn how we can help.
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Need workers' comp and employee benefits, while also considering a PEO option? We can help!

We've teamed up with Bene-Fit Solutions to provide competitive rates for worker's comp and employee benefits, while also providing the convenience of a PEO. For more information, please contact Mitch Laycock at
(720) 858-6297.
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In This Issue - August 2017
6 Tips for Data Breach Coverage
A Prescription for Financial Health
2018 Insurance Plan Filings in Colorado
Q&A: Traditional 401(k) Rollover to a Roth IRA
October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month
6 Tips for Data Breach Coverage
Cyber-security requires daily vigilance. The 2017 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report found that "80% of hacking-related breaches leverage either stolen passwords and/or weak or guessable passwords." While we can't prevent cyber crime from happening, we can help to make sure you're properly covered in case you ever face a data breach situation. Make sure your coverage addresses: 
  1. Full prior acts coverage. Your policy should not have a retro date as some breaches take years to discover. Do you have coverage for cyber or data incidents caused by unknown acts that happened prior to the inception date of the policy?
  2. Business interruption expenses incurred due to your cloud provider or web host suffering outages.
  3. Payment Card Industry (PCI) fines, penalties, and assessments.
  4. Coverage for reputational harm.
  5. Breach of non-electronic/paper data.
  6. Coverage (for you and/or your entity) should one of your business associates cause the data breach. 

A recent report by Symantec revealed that in 2016, more than 600 million individual identities were exposed and 40 percent of that information was personal financial information, including credit or debit card details and/or banking financial records. Be confident about your cyber security and contact Mitch Laycock at (720) 858-6297 to help make sure you are appropriately insured.

A Prescription for Financial Health
Health professionals continually educate themselves, whether it's reading new research in a chosen specialty, or understanding the latest technology. However, adequate preparation for the substantial financial responsibilities they face tends to be minimal, comparatively.

The day-to-day concerns that affect most people----paying student loans, buying a home, insuring oneself and a business----may be complicated by the challenges and rewards of a medical or dental practice. Just as patients need periodic checkups, health care professionals may need to work with a financial professional to make sure finances receive proper care. Woodbury Financial suggests these tips: 
  1. Maximize your personal assets: Create a long-term financial plan to make the most of your earning years.
  2. Use preventative care: Liability and disability insurance can help protect against the consequences of legal action, a medical emergency, and business difficulties. 
  3. Practice management and business planning: Whether it's a group practice or being solo, owning or renting your office space, or the pros and cons of taking over an existing practice, all of these decisions have a financial impact to consider. 
  4. Practice valuation: Understand the tradeoffs between maximizing current income from your practice and maximizing its value as an asset for eventual sale. 
  5. Estate planning: potentially minimize taxes and further your personal and philanthropic goals.
We can help you assess and review your goals. Contact Jeff Feakes at (720) 858-6285 with your questions or to set up a consultation.
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Securities and Investment Advisory Services offered through Woodbury Financial Services, Inc., Member FINRA, SIPC and Registered Investment Adviser. COPIC Financial Service Group and Woodbury Financial Services, Inc. are not affiliated entities.
2018 Insurance Plan Filings in Colorado
Eight health care insurance carriers have filed their 2018 plans and proposed premiums for Colorado, according to the Colorado Division of Insurance.

The carriers that submitted plans in both the individual and small group markets are Anthem (both HMO Colorado and Rocky Mountain Hospital & Medical), Bright Health, Cigna, Colorado Choice, Denver Health Medical Plan, Freedom Life, Kaiser Permanente, and Rocky Mountain HMO. In addition, four carriers submitted plans for only the small group market: Aetna, Humana, Rocky Mountain Health Care Options, and UnitedHealthcare.

As of the filing deadline, there will be at least one insurance option available in all counties. Carriers that had plans available on the 2017 "Connect for Health Colorado" exchanges have submitted their individual coverage options.

Depending on what happens at the federal level with efforts to "repeal and replace" the Affordable Care Act, these options could change. There is a 120-day notice requirement to leave the market and a 90-day notice requirement for an insurance carrier to eliminate one or more plan options.

Read more in the  Denver Business Journal . And remember  COPIC FSG is here to help you navigate your health insurance needs. Contact Andrea Levine at (720) 858-6287 with your questions.
Q&A: Traditional 401(k) Rollover to a Roth IRA? 
Can I roll my traditional 401(k) account balance over to a Roth IRA? 
Yes, you can make a direct or 60-day rollover* from a 401(k) plan (or other qualified plan, 403(b) plan, or governmental 457(b) plan) to a Roth IRA, as long as you meet certain requirements.
  1. You must be entitled to a distribution from your plan. While you can always access your account when you terminate employment, in some cases you may be able to withdraw your own or your employer's contributions while you're still working (for example, at age 59½). 

    [Note: Your plan may also permit the "in plan" conversion of all or part of your account balance to a Roth account, regardless of whether you're eligible for a distribution from the plan. Check with your plan administrator.]
     
  2. Your distribution must be an "eligible rollover distribution." Distributions that cannot be rolled over include hardship withdrawals, certain periodic payments, and required minimum distributions. 
     
  3. You must include the taxable portion of the distribution in your gross income in the year you make the rollover.

  4. If your distribution includes both after-tax and pre-tax dollars, you can generally roll the after-tax dollars into a Roth IRA (resulting in a tax-free conversion), while making a tax-deferred rollover of the pre-tax dollars to a traditional IRA. 
*If you make a 60-day rollover, your plan will withhold 20% of the taxable portion of your distribution for federal income tax purposes.

When evaluating whether to initiate a rollover from an employer plan to an IRA, be sure to: 
  1. Ask about possible surrender charges that your employer plan or IRA may impose,
  2. Compare investment fees and expenses charged by your IRA with those charged by your employer plan (if any), and 
  3. Understand any accumulated rights or guarantees that you may be giving up by transferring funds out of your employer plan. 

Also, consider all of your distribution options, including leaving the money in your employer's plan, transferring the funds to a new employer's plan, or taking a cash withdrawal. 
 

To gain a better understanding of your savings options, contact
Mike Edwards at (720) 858-6289 for assistance in navigating your portfolio choices.

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Securities and Investment Advisory Services offered through Woodbury Financial Services, Inc., Member FINRA, SIPC and Registered Investment Adviser. COPIC Financial Service Group and Woodbury Financial Services, Inc. are not affiliated entities.
October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has again designated October as National Cyber Security Awareness Month.

This recognition is a collaborative effort between the DHS and its public and private partners, including the National Cyber Security Alliance, to raise awareness about the importance of cybersecurity. The DHS National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) assists asset owners in mitigating vulnerabilities, identifies other entities that may be at risk, and shares information across the public and private sectors to protect against similar incidents in the future.

DHS announced the following themes for 2017: 
  • Week 1: October 2-6----Simple Steps to Online Safety
  • Week 2: October 9-13----Cybersecurity in the Workplace is Everyone's Business
  • Week 3: October 16-20----Today's Predictions for Tomorrow's Internet
  • Week 4: October 23-27----The Internet Wants YOU: Consider a Career in Cyber-security
  • Week 5: October 30-31----Protecting Critical Infrastructure from Cyber Threats
In addition, the DHS website offers a toolkit of downloadable resources that include links to the following: 

Contact Mitch Laycock at (720) 858-6297 for more information.

Even if you are not currently in the market for insurance
products, we are always available to help make sure you are
getting the best coverages at the best prices. Call us at
(720) 858-6280!

Sincerely,

Sue Swanson
President, COPIC Financial Service Group
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Copyright 2017 by the COPIC Trust. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be produced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher.

  COPIC Financial Service Group, Ltd. is an insurance brokerage firm representing a variety of insurance carriers. Products offered by COPIC Financial are not issued by COPIC Insurance Company.